Staff reporter

Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner told supporters in Leamington how she is “energised” in her party’s campaign to win the forthcoming general election.

The former teen mother turned MP, who is running for re-election for the Ashton-under-Lyne seat on June 8, arrived in the town aboard Labour’s ‘Battle Bus’ and was greeted by Labour’s Warwick and Leamington candidate Matt Western before giving a speech in front of supporters outside the town hall.

The crowd also heard speeches from North Leamington School pupil George Towl, 12, and Emma Mort, teacher and the co-founder of the Our Schools: Warwick and Leamington campaign group, who spoke out against cuts to education.

Mrs Rayner’s speech covered various issues including per-pupil funding in schools accusing David Cameron and Theresa May of ‘breaking the promise’ to protect this.

She said: “When have we ever known in our lifetime that headteachers have had to write letters begging for more money to keep their schools afloat. It is shameful.

“We are not a Third World country, we are one of the richest countries in the world yet we have got food banks on our streets and people waiting for cancer treatment you have NHS nurses being told to use and having to use food banks and Theresa May says ‘well it’s complex’.

Angela Rayner and Matt Western speak to Labour supporters outside Leamington town hall.

“It isn’t complex and we saw how uncomplex it is last night when you had a stark choice when you had weak and wobbly May or Jeremy Corbyn standing up for the many and not the few.”

“I have been absolutely energised by this campaign because at the beginning they all said it was a done deal. Theresa May was arrogant - she pushed us into a general election because she thought you would vote for anything. She thought as long as she kept saying ‘Brexit, Brexit, Brexit, she could do anything she wanted but the British People have seen through that and know that she has nothing to offer out young people, nothing to offer in terms of jobs for British workers and nothing to offer for our NHS the jewel in the crown.”

The Facebook Live video of Mrs Rayner’s full speech is attached to this story or can be viewed here and the other speeches can also be viewed on the Leamington Courier’s Facebook page.

For more on the forthcoming General Election see page four of Friday’s Courier or KWN.